I AM CAUGHT BEHIND THE FORMER IRON CURTAIN, AND MY POSTS CAN'T GET OUT.

I'LL TRY AGAIN NEXT WEEK FROM FRANCE.

SORRY 'BOUT THAT

Are People Really That Stupid?Fortunately, the answer to the above question is usually "No." However, people do enough fairly-stupid to seriously-stupid things to keep the rest of us entertained most of the time. Unfortunately, the human race is in the middle of doing a couple of really stupid things that may result in wiping ourselves off the face of the planet. Given this scenario, the blogger might be forgiven if the subjects he covers range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Feel free to join in. Maybe you'll say something smart.

Here's another interesting “value of art” question. British Columbia sculptor Kevin Stone recently created a 2700 kg (6000 lb.) statue of a Chinese Water Dragon, totally made of stainless steel.

Now, this is a truly wonderful work, incredibly beautiful, incredibly huge: 3.5(12 ft) high and 10 m (35 ft.) long. If the loops were straightened out, the body would be 26 m (85 ft.) long. The original asking price? $10 million. After a couple of years with no buyers, he has dropped his price to $5 million.

The point is: how can we value such a work? He says he spent about 2 years of his life on it. One report says 12,000 hours, although the math says he must have had help to do that in 2 years. There is about 2 miles of welding in it. What is an artist’s salary for 2 years? I suppose Mr. Stone can check out his wages at his former job in the construction industry for a guideline. One newspaper story quoted him as saying he put a million dollars worth of stainless steel into it, which I find difficult to believe, since that would mean a price of $370 per Kg. Stainless steel of almost any size and thickness of sheet runs less than $5 per kilo. If he’s counting prep time in the value of the steel, then that has to come out of the salary figure.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to bring Mr. Stone’s calculations into question, nor the artistic qualities of his work. I’m just demonstrating that the value of his art, which he is hoping is in the $5 - $10 million range, has nothing to do with the man-hours or expenses involved in the creation, and much more to do with supply and demand of the market. The only way this work of art is going to find a value is if someone buys it.

Placing a unique object into a supply and demand situation is very interesting. At the moment, Mr. Stone has 100% of the supply of Water Dragons and there is 0 demand. (That is, demand to buy. He has managed to rent it out to the River Rock Casino for 6 months.) Perhaps someone with a large budget will come along and create a demand.

Here is where the psychological element of bargaining enters. You can picture Mr. Stone offering the work for $5 million, and someone countering with his own offer. Once that offer has been made, the parameters for the sale are set. If you’re a frequenter of garage sales or Middle Eastern markets, you know that if both the buyer and the seller are motivated, then the eventual sale price will be somewhere near half way between the two offers.

There are two other factors that enter into this valuing. First is the history of the artist’s work. If other people have paid multi millions for Mr. Stone’s other works, then there is more likelihood that the prospective buyer of the Water Dragon will expect to pay nearer to the $5 million.

The second factor that would work to the artist’s advantage is if someone else were to become interested in the work. The moment you have two potential buyers, then all sorts of other elements such as ego and publicity enter into the picture, mostly to the benefit of the seller.

The reason the Water Dragon is a good example is that at least in this case there is no doubt as to the provenance of the work. It isn’t likely a forgery.

And then there’s publicity. I recall once attending a small art show with my Art Appreciation 101 class when I was in university. After looking at a series of fiberglass objects hanging on the wall, I wrote my review of the show, mentioning the fact that the price tags on the works might be affected by the fact that there had been an article the preceding week in the Vancouver Sun, featuring the artist. My instructor was not amused.

However, after a lifetime of work in the Arts of various sorts, I maintain my view. I doubt that anyone would deny that if a million people were to see this post, it could have a positive effect on the price of the Water Dragon. Tell your friends.

The display at one of the province’s larger casinos and the ensuing newspaper reports can’t hurt either. Everything like this adds to the artist’s credibility.

If I had to make a guess, I’d say Mr. Stone will keep the darn thing around for a while, then sell it for a reasonable return on his time, hoping that the sale will stimulate offers for his other works. (You ought to see his eagle.) Then some hotshot entrepreneur will take it on a world tour, put it in front of some world-renown landmark for a while, and sell it for ten times what he paid Mr. Stone for it.

Which will at least help Mr. Stone sell his other works. Hey, artists aren’t supposed to make money.

Of course, that’s just me being cynical. I hope Kevin Stone gets his price. Next week we’ll talk about some shyster who is trying for $160 million out of what probably isn’t a Da Vinci, and the “Principessa” isn’t half a pretty as the Dragon.

By the way, would you like my opinion of the Water Dragon? Well, I’m writing this, so obviously I’m going to give it, because I want to. Of course, you’re the reader, so you can skip it if you want to.

I have a real problem with metal sculptors. I have always had the naïve hope that artists choose their media because in some way the medium they choose has a certain connection with their subject matter. Oils, for example, unless you’re Monet, have a limited utility for water scenes. They’re just too lumpy. Watercolours generally work much better.

Too many metal sculptors, I’m afraid, seem to have taken the opposite approach, and choose their medium first. “Hey, I think I’d like to be a welder. That’s a manly, guy-type form of art. Let me see, now, what can I make a statue of?”

The result is a lot of “sculptures” that look like lumps of metal held together with bubble gum.

If you apply my “subject before medium” technique, what subject matter leads itself to plate metal? Well, animals with scales and feathers, to start with. In the first place because scales and feathers are flat, and compound curves are the bane of welders. Second, because they’re shiny, especially scales. And if you had to pick the one scaled animal that lends itself to stainless, what would it be? The mythical Chinese dragon, of course. Mr. Stone is perhaps having a little joke with us, since his Water Dragon spends its time reflecting the West Coast climate.

What about technique? Well, this guy was in the welding trade for 25 years. Not a gob of bubble gum in sight.

And the overall effect? Well, it’s enough to get your imagination going. I mean, you stand underneath that thing and you start thinking “What if it was real?” and the hairs start rising on the back of your neck.

Yes, I really hope he gets his price.

Whatever it is.

Interesting Post Script

Since posting this, I have been contacted by Mr. Stone himself, explaining the situation more clearly. It was only (only!) 8000 hours: 23 months, 7 days a week. The original $10 million price tag was influenced by investors who had less knowledge of the market than the creator. Mr. Stone spent about half a million dollars on materials, and he values the piece at only $1.5 million, a price which he feels is appropriate. He has recently had a 16 metre (52 foot) eagle commissioned by Dolly Parton and installed at Dollywood, and other commissions on the way, so his name is becoming known. This should make it a less complicated matter to value his future works.

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Gordon A. Long is a semi-retired teacher living in
Delta, British Columbia. There he indulges his life-long interests in writing,
theater, photography, travel, dogs, and sailing (not necessarily in that
order).

He also runs Airborn Press and helps beginning writers with
editing, proofreading, designing, publishing and marketing their books. His
business experience includes providing technical and management services in the
theatrical and convention field for forty years, from school and amateur
theatre all the way up to the 2010 Olympics.

Has he invested in the Stock Market? Yes. Was he successful? Yes. Did he
make a killing? Not a chance. He isn't that smart. Or that stupid.